(Photos: Richard Eaton)

It's a tortilla. But thanks to the experimental work of musician Matthew Herbert, it's also a playable record:

Herbert calls his project at the Science Gallery London Edible Sound. He used laser-cutting technology to etch his own music into tortillas and other foods. The Vinyl Factory reports on his recent demonstration:

Equipped with a larder of ingredients used in processed foods, he laser-etched aubergine, onion, celeriac, potato, ham, cheese, tortilla and sugar into playable, edible records which were then fed to the audience at the end of the performance.

What songs would you like to see etched into which foods?

-via Foodiggity

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People all over the world send their accordions to Alex Carozza. He's famous for his tender and expert care of their beloved squeezeboxes.

Now 88 years old, Carozza is the last accordion repairman in New York City, where he has worked since 1960. Along with his 93-year old assistant, he masterfully reconstructs aging and broken accordions. This video by Great Big Story peers into the life of this amazing man.

-via Colossal

(Photo: Ben Graves)

Ben Graves, 80, stands in front of his enormous map of 3,047 counties and county-equivalents in the 48 contiguous states of the United States. It measures 8 by 5 feet across.

He's not an artist by trade, but he is a master of his craft. Graves is a retired oil refinery fire chief in Kerrville, Texas. His tranquility is to make wood county maps of states, which he often donates to local schools. My San Antonio reports:

“It's a hobby that I dearly love,” said Graves, whose father was a carpenter. “It's very relaxing. I have no music. No nothin'. Just me and my saw. Very relaxing.” […]

Graves pulled out all the stops for his latest project, a county-by-county map of the nation's 48 contiguous states made from more than a dozen types of wood, which he donated Monday to Kerr County.

-via Twisted Sifter

Artist Sebastian Errazuriz calls his work, appropriately, the Zipper Dress. It consists of strips of fabric held together with 120 zippers.

It's a remarkably flexible garment that is adjustable to a variety of settings. Stepping out of the office to go shopping? Going to a job interview? Just add or subtract zippered strips as necessary.

So far, there's only one Zipper Dress. But Errazuriz says it could be mass-produced. There's certainly a market for it, don't you think?

-via Oxot

(Image via caross)

Mr. Yogato is a frozen yogurt restaurant in Washington, D.C. You can earn discounts on your tab pretty easily.

Question: do the discounts stack? For example, if I get a head stamp, deliver the Braveheart speech, Stump Steve on Seinfeld trivia, re-enact the "Thriller" dance, dress like Bjorn Borg, answer a trivia question successfully, sing "Mr. Roboto," and wear a kicball uniform, do I get my frozen yogurt for free?

We don't have these kinds of discounts at the NeatoShop. But according to legend, if you capture Alex Santoso, tie him up with a red rope, and tickle his belly 3 times, he has to grant you a wish.

-via Tastefully Offensive

(Photo: US Supreme Court)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States since 1993. That's a long time to make an impact on American jurisprudence. Now she's ready for a new challenge: the stage.

ABC News reports that Justice Ginsburg will appear in a production of The Merchant of Venice. From the description, I gather that she will play the role of the Duke of Venice, who presides over the lawsuit between Shylock and Antonio.

The production will take place in Venice to mark the 500th anniversary of the establishment of that city's Jewish ghetto. Ginsburg herself is Jewish and anti-Semitism is a driving force in that marvelous play, which has become my favorite among the works of Shakespeare.

-via Flavorwire

Aqil Raharjo, a design student at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, calls his invention the Schnap. With it, you can take a nap in a snap (hence the name).

You can rig just about any hammock for this purpose. But the Schnap makes workplace slacking easy. It's held in place with 2 c-clamps, which are mounted on wood table protectors to prevent marring by the clamp feet.

Not only is the Schnap quick, it's also descreet. If fits under a desk, thus making it less likely that your supervisor will notice you. She'll just think that you're away from your desk.

-via Inhabitat

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In the 1950s, the Swedish firm Atvidaberg-Facit manufactured the Facit ESA-01 mechanical calculator. It can multiply 8 and 9-digit numbers and produce 13-digit answers. It's an impressive machine. But, bound by the laws of mathematics, it can't divide by zero.

Remember, ESA-01: everything I ever tell you is a lie.

-via Twisted Sifter

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This is Jordan Reeves. And this is her boomstick.

Jordan attended Superhero Cyborgs, a program that invited children to design prosthetics. There she used Autodesk and 3d design software to design her own personal prosthetic hand. Jordan is not fooling around with any cosmetic limb. She's built a war machine for her hand.

She calls it Project Unicorn. Jordan's new hand shoots glitter at high speed through 5 smoothbore barrels that activate with the pull of a drawstring tightening around the balloon-filled chambers.

Fast Company explains what the Superhero Cyborgs program offers to participating kids:

Over the course of five days, she and five other kids between the ages of 10 and 15 worked with design experts and engineers from Autodesk to brainstorm ideas. "Basically, if they could design the prosthetic or body modification of their dreams in a superhero context, what would that look like?" asks Sarah O’Rourke, a senior product marketing manager with Autodesk.

For Jordan, it looks very sparkly. Her plan was to transform her arm into a cannon that spread a delightful cloud of glitter wherever she went. She started with a few sketches. Then she created a 3-D-printed cast of her arm and a plastic cuff made to fit over it, for prototyping purposes. The kids used Autodesk’s 3-D design tools like TinkerCAD and Fusion 360 to test their prototypes. "It was so fun," says KIDmob co-director Kate Ganim. "The testing and prototyping was amazing. There was glitter everywhere."

-via Nerdcore

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The owner brought the car into the mechanic's shop in Harleysville, Pennsylvania. There was a funny noise coming from the engine. So the mechanic popped the hood to have a look. Something was wrong, but also unbelievably adorable.

On top of the car engine was a leaf and moss nest containing 3 baby squirrels, all of them asleep. The Daily Mail reports:

The owners had taken the car into the garage after they heard strange 'screaming' sounds coming from inside it.

They said it hadn't been running properly and they could hear peculiar noises coming from the vehicle.  

The squirrels had chewed through some of the wiring, which was perhaps why the car was not functioning properly.

-via Dave Barry

(Photo: Imedia Creative Bureau)

The ad agency Imedia Creative Bureau in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan developed this clever packaging design for single-serving milk bottles. The hope is that kids will happily reach for the bottles that look like cows getting stolen by aliens. Just pop the flying saucer cap and drink--before the aliens take them all!

You can see more photos at Design Taxi.

-via Technabob

(Photo: EV4)

Behold the future of personal transportation!

First there was the car. Then there was the Segway. Now, once again, technology has advanced the joy of the human adventure.

This is the EV4. They're what happens when you try to combine the best of the rollerblading and tank-driving experiences. Jack Skopinski built these devices that can propel you up to 9 MPH for up to 12 miles. They connect to an 11-pound battery, which I'll guess is in the backpack. You control them with a hand-held pad.

Atreyu was supposed to be green.

The hero Atreyu was a member of the Green Skins tribe. But the movie directors decided that actor Noah Hathaway should keep his own color.

This is 1 of 15 facts about the 1984 children's movie The NeverEnding Story rounded up by BuzzFeed. They include how the Falkor puppet was operated and who now owns the Auryn medallion.

The movie The NeverEnding Story is based on Michael Ende's novel The Neverending Story. It's excellent and I highly recommend it, especially as the movie had to cut out a lot in order to fit into 107 minutes. I own a first US edition which is printed in red and green ink, alternating between the two worlds. The visual effect is particularly striking as Bastian is about to cross over into Fantasia.

It was quite a baby shower!

Abby Rogers, the photographer, says that this happens a lot during newborn baby photo shoots. In fact, in her experience, this always happens for a long shoot. But this is the first time that she captured it on camera. Her timing was hilariously perfect. The Daily Mail reports:

'Babies like to get to me as soon as I am undressing them... typically as I am posing them,' Mrs Rogers said.

'They are so warm and they are naked for a few hours so they get comfortable but sometimes I get lucky and it's during the part when they have a diaper on.'

This little boy is the couple's third son, so they weren't surprised either.

-via Geekologie

What would the Mother of Dragons do for Easter? Not what redditor Cakorator did. With red gel, egg yolks, mayonnaise, mustard, sriracha, cayenne pepper, and a pastry bag with a size 5 tip, s/he made these adorable treats. They don't breathe fire, but with enough sriracha and cayenne pepper, you might after you eat them.